...will he ever win?

What did Floridians want to know about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the runup to the Sunshine State’s primary?

Thanks to the folks at a perky Internet startup called Google, we have answers. (Special thanks to rock star Samantha Smith for gathering this data especially for the Fix.)

January 31, 2012 08:00 PM

January 31, 2012 08:00 PM

There is a good bit of confusion about how Florida will award its delegates following today’s primary.

So, to clear things up, here’s where we stand:

A new Republican National Committee rule says that no state holding its presidential contest before April is allowed to award its delegates to the national convention on a winner-take-all basis, unless it is one of the four early carve-out states (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada).

January 31, 2012 07:09 PM

It’s hard to get people interested in the minutae that is campaign finance law. But Stephen Colbert appears to be making headway in his quest to make “super PAC” a household word.

A 2006 Indiana Unversity study found “The Daily Show” to be as informative as network news. Colbert has taken that a step further — not only reporting the news in a humorous way but creating news to bring attention to an often-overlooked issue.

January 31, 2012 07:05 PM

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Credit: LA Times

As many of you know I've been covering the Occupy Movement since Day 1. I've been to eight Occupy camps in two countries: One raid. One near-arrest. One march on the U.S. Consulate. A couple of barricaded streets. I was at the largest GA the movement has had thus far (Cal Berkeley) and at the first ever national one (in DC). I'm on various text message alert lists with all the news...many of it at 2am. In short: I've been following this movement closely. And for a handful of publications.

Today I wrote a piece for Alternet about how the movement is on the brink of being marginalized:

The Occupy Movement, “the 99 percent,” has, ironically, been hijacked by a small minority within its ranks. I speak of a small percentage of Occupiers who are okay with property destruction. As we saw in Oakland over the weekend: They’re okay with breaking windows, trashing city buildings and throwing bottles at the police. In short: They are not nonviolent. They are willing to commit petty criminal acts masked as a political statement.

These are Black Bloc tactics and they're historically ineffective at spurring change. The now Gingrich-vilified Saul Alinsky in 1970 said the Weather Underground (the terrorist wing of the anti-war movement) should be on the Establishment’s payroll. “Because they are strengthening the Establishment,” said the “professional radical” Alinsky. Nothing kneecapped the call for the war to end quicker than buildings being bombed in solidarity with pacifist sentiments.

Here’s the key point: Occupy is not an armed conflict – it’s a PR war. Nonviolent struggle is a PR war. Gandhi had embedded journalists on his Salt March. He wasn’t a saint. That was a consciously cultivated media image. He used the press and its power to gain sympathy for his cause. What he didn’t do is say he was nonviolent “unless the cops are d*cks,” a sentiment voiced at Occupy. Nonviolent struggle has nothing to do with how the cops react. In actual nonviolent movements they welcome police overreaction because it helps the cause they’re fighting for.

The whole piece is here.

January 31, 2012 07:00 PM

I never thought an attack ad produced by Republicans that attacks another Republican would ever make me mad, but I was wrong—even if the attack is directed at Newt Gingrich.

Republican hypocrisy is frustratingly typical and we often write about it on C&L, but this Romney Super PAC ad is disgusting because it exposes just how far these allegedly non-affiliated groups will go, as it accuses Gingrich of the exact character flaws that define Romney as both a man and as a politician. Namely, flip flopping on all issues and supporting a health care mandate, which is a key component of Romney's own health care bill in MA.

Voice over: And Newt was a long-time supporter of a national health care mandate, the centerpiece of Obama-care. The Gingrich record, thirty years in Washington, flip flopping on issues...

I was on The Alyona Show on RT television to discuss the two year anniversary of the Citizens United decision. Alyona asked me if Newt was really angry over the Super PAC ads that have been hammering him, and I said "Absolutely."

Republicans love the Citizens United decision because it allows them to buy our political system like never before, and Newtie supports that. However, when a person is on the receiving end of the attacks, it stings. That's human nature.

I doubt he expected to be on the receiving end of Super PAC attack ads when the court handed down its decision, or if he did anticipate it, he probably thought he'd be able to out-spin them. It hasn't worked out that way, as these types of ads defeated him in Iowa. Newt fell flat on his face in the Florida debates and these ads will help cement his defeat there too, if the vote turns out the way the new polls are showing.

Mitt Romney is pro-choice one minute, then pro-life the next. First he's pro-stem cell research, then later, anti-stem cell research. It's a recurring theme for his entire political career. He has no passion, has no ideals, and has no principles except his yearning to win the presidency. And that's a big reason why the GOP voters are so turned off to him as their nominee. If he needed to run as a "Know Nothing" candidate in a particular state, he would have no problem doing that either. No wonder Gingrich put a scare into the entire GOP establishment after his SC win, in spite of the fact that Newt's part of that establishment too.

This ad is disgraceful, and as Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny! said in a tweet: "Willard has no shame".

But Romney has planned long and hard for this moment, so he and his "unaffiliated" PAC will stop at nothing. And when the general election comes around, the ad wars are going to be uglier than you can imagine. Buckle up.

January 31, 2012 06:00 PM

Today’s Florida primary features the largest and most diverse electorate of any contest to date in the Republican presidential primary fight.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney enters election day with a clear polling lead although former House Speaker Newt Gingrich pledged this morning that “I’m not going to lose big in Florida.”

January 31, 2012 05:52 PM

Think you know how today’s Florida primary is going to turn out? Want to win an official Fix t-shirt?

If you answered “yes” to both those questions — and we are assuming you did if you read this blog — then make sure to vote in the Fix Florida primary prediction contest!

January 31, 2012 05:50 PM

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who has faced a series of primary challenges in recent years, has decided not to seek a 16th term this year.

Burton, who began his congressional career in the 1960s, told members of the Indiana House on Tuesday that he’ll serve out his term but not run again, the Associated Press reported. The 73-year-old didn’t elaborate on his decision during his brief address to lawmakers, but he told reporters beforehand that he was resigning because of family health issues.

January 31, 2012 05:35 PM

A Facebook group put up by an anonymous user seems to be suggesting a threat against people who sign the recall petitions in Wisconsin against Republican Governor Scott Walker. The page was initially launched with a message that read:

You know who you are. WE know who you are. This is gonna get FUN!!

I'm sure as hell going to inform my employer about co-workers names that show up. He is a true Walker supporter. He was looking to let go a couple of workers...now that decision is made that much easier.

The group's profile pic is a photo of a house on fire. The implication is clearly that those who signed petitions to recall Walker would be targeted with loss of job or their home being burned.

After a number of websites learned of the group, the original message was scrubbed from the site and it was "remade" as a "warning" that right-wing extremists might engage in this type of behavior:

Daily Kos gets it wrong, as usual. This is Knot a hate page. This is a page warning petition signers of a clear and possible realitly that radical right wing extremists will be getting your info off the Recall Petitions.

If you read posts on the page, though, this smokescreen falls flat, as there are denigrating references towards liberals and the page lists among its favorites the "Verify the Recall" group, which claims to be a nonpartisan group interested only in making sure recall petition signers were legitimate, but is a fan of tea party-related groups and organizations like Wisconsin GrandSons of Liberty, which is promoting events like a "Celebrate Walker" rally and is linked to numerous right-wing organizations.

It seems clear the original page was going to be flagged and removed as a threatening site and they changed the tenor of the page to comply with Facebook guidelines.

January 31, 2012 05:00 PM